Just moments ago I sent off the (I hope) final text edits and layout for In the Penal Colony to translator Breon Mitchell and artist Dellas Henke. Lucky for all of you we are perfectionists and because of that this new manuscript from Breon has undergone nine (I think) revisions in the past six months. I must say I’ve had too much fun doing this — for an otherwise usually grueling process it’s been fun sparring with my collaborators from anything from syntax to making calls on typographic “house style.”

Here is Dellas’s sixth etching for the book,”Entitled” to be used as the frontispiece.

All of the intaglio prints have been pulled and are awaiting another dampening for the text run. All but three more sets….

— We’ve decided to print an additional three special copies on some old Barcham Green “Windhover” stock saved by Dellas while he was working with Kim Merker and the Windhover Press during his graduate student days at the University of Iowa in the ’70s. I will contribute some lovely old stock Fabriano sheets from the ’40s for fly leaves or doublures. Some three discriminating individuals or institutions will enjoy these lovely folios of crisp sheets hand pulled by an iconic craftsman and paper mill and impressed with our impressions of this interesting little story.

UPDATE: The manuscript is finished! To the press soon!

I’ve not been idle while waiting for manuscript revisions. Progress has been made on my other Kafka project, The Hunter Gracchus, with completion of the last engraving and mezzotint intaglio work and adapting the other plates to the new size format. I’ll post some pictures of layout revisions soon.

Also, James Dissette and I have not neglected our Mad Parrot Press venture! We’ve brought Marc Castelli back on board to illustrate our new production of EM Forster ‘s The Machine Stops. Marc has worked with us in the past on our books under the Chester River Press imprint for both Heart of Darkness and The Chesapeake Voyages of Captain John Smith as well as other ephemeral projects. However, we’ve run into a snag with the Forster estate at the moment but hope to work it out to all of our benefit in the very near future. I’ll keep you posted of course as I’m always timely with my blog….

Looking toward fall:

I’ll once again be at the 16th annual Kerrytown Bookfest in Ann Arbor, Michigan peddling my books and demonstrating intaglio printing as I have for the past 16 years.

I’ll also be at Oak Knoll Fest XX in New Castle, Delaware on October 5-7th. Please join me and 40 other fine presses from around the world as we convene for this very special 20th anniversary gathering at Oak Knoll where the Fine Press Book Association was born.

All books convey a message through printed word and image. The fine press book is not just a vessel for an idea, but a message in and of itself. When the careful combination of paper, typography, printing, and binding accentuate the ideas contained within in a distinctive and artistic way, then the book as an object takes on special importance. How this evolving practice is viewed by artisans, collectors, institutions, and dealers is what Oak Knoll Fest is all about.

Here is a small preview of my newest book project that will be available to view at Codex later this week. The latest working prototype for The Hunter Gracchus by Franz Kafka which is a short story I fell in love with decades ago and now, finally, I get to have my way with it.

I’ve already gone over most of the details of having a new English language version made in an earlier post but late last week I received the final working draft from my translator, Jamie Lee Searle. Now I can finally commit to some of the intaglio prints I’ve been working on for the book. Only one of them is ready to show and it is still just a proof but I think I’ve narrowed it down to 4 or 5 others that will be used in the book. They are all mostly moody and tonal created with mezzotint, roulette and stipple with a little bit of burin work. I will be using 14pt Weiss for body type and currently the page size is about 7 ¾ x 9 inches. I’ve been liking the results so far using 175gsm Somerset Book paper for the intaglio printing, the velvet surface and moderate sizing content is wonderful for tonal print work and text is beautiful with the dampened sheet.

All of this is subject to change of course, the margins, and title page particularly, will vary as I experiment some more but here are pictures for proof of concept. The fragility and delicacy of the intaglio prints will definitely make this a short edition of no more than 60 books if I’m lucky.

This is just a little list of items I’ll have available for next weeks big show in New York. I’m pulling out some of the older titles I haven’t shown in a while where there may only be one or two copies left for sale and I’ll also have some of the broadsides available for purchase.

Looking forward to meeting some new people whom I’ve only had the pleasure of communicating with online or snail mail. Chris Adamson, who has the excellent blog Books and Vines, will be attending the show along with a few others coming in from all parts of the world. Hope to see some of you there!

Books:

The Intruder, by Robert Traver with wood engravings by Jim Westergard

Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad illustrated by Marc Castelli

The Path, by Sigrid Christiansen with lino cuts by Chad Pastotnik

Saturnalia, by H.P. Lovecraft with a collagraph by Chad Pastotnik

Killing The Bear, by Judith Minty with wood engravings by Glenn Wolff

There Be Monsters, written and illustrated by Chad Pastotnik with lino cuts

The Changeling’s Exile, by Gerard Wozek with an intaglio print by Chad Pastotnik

The Frogs Who Wished A King, Aesop with intaglio prints by Chad Pastotnik

Ripping Oblivion, written and illustrated by Steve Toornman with his intaglio prints

The Legend of Minisens, by Judith Hitz with lino cuts and intaglio by Steve Toornman, Meredith Krell and Chad Pastotnik

Folly, written and illustrated by Erin Murray with lino cut. Erin was my star apprentice a couple years back.

Broadsides:

The Mad Angler’s Manifesto, by Michael Delp with lino cut by Chad Pastotnik

If, by Rudyard Kipling with a wood engraving by Chad Pastotnik

Along With Youth, by Ernest Hemingway with a wood engraving by Jim Horton

The Trout in Winter, by Jerry Dennis with an intaglio print by Glenn Wolff

Where They Run, map of Montauk Point, Long Island. Intaglio by Glenn Wolff

September Inverness, by Robert Hass

I’ll also have along some other small ephemera which is rarely seen outside the studio.

Like this:

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Categories

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The Changeling’s Exile

Glenn’s remark

Some books produced at Deep Wood Press. The John Barth book “Browsing” was printed here at DWP for The Literary House Press (Washington College, MD) by James Dissette, my sometimes partner in crime in printing for Chester River Press.

Title page from Heart of Darkness

There Be Monsters.

deluxe binding of The Intruder

Glenn’s intaglio plate

1,000 Artist’s Books

The Intruder

A printed sheet next to the type form

Pile of Intruders

Killing the Bear by Judith Minty, deluxe edition binding & slipcase

Along with Youth

The 6th etching for the book, “Entitled”

Title page for the book There Be Monsters

Don Etherington binding of The Intruder

Opening spread for Minisens

Don Etherington binding of The Intruder

Killing the Bear

Opening spread for There be Monsters

the linoleum blocks for “The Path” center spread

Page spread from The Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop, versified by Clara Dotty Bates.

Bower by Terrance Hayes

CD packaging

The Path

Presentation binding for The Chesapeake Voyages of Captain John Smith

Page spread from The Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop, versified by Clara Dotty Bates.

Title page from Killing the Bear by Judith Minty

The Trout in Winter

Trout page spread

Heart of Darkness

type hand-set on a curve

Title Page

Saturnalia

Opening spread for the Frogs Who Wished A King by Aesop, intaglio engravings by Chad Pastotnik.

The Mad Angler’s Manifesto

a pile

spine label detail

Chained books at Chetham’s Library in Manchester, England where I was a speaker at a letterpress conference.